I'm still alive

'Dongyoon.'

Someone whispers. Upon hearing the whisper, I instinctively opened my eyes, glanced around and tried to find a weapon. But the old man who awoke me grabs my shoulder, and brings his index finger to his lips. Oh, Chae-yeon is next to me. When I came to my senses, I woke up carefully in case the child woke up, and looked up at the old man. Then the old man beckons to me, pointing out of the quarters.

The sun hasn't risen yet. Let's check my watch. It's 5 a.m. and waking me up at an early hour when the sun has to go up for hours. Something must have happened. However, the old man's expression was calmer than expected, so I slowly opened the door, measuring the degree of emergency.

The other party is all asleep. But the old man was wearing everything except a gun. Watching the figure quietly, I moved to the next room and quickly changed into my mission uniform, and walked out the front door where the old man had left. When I open the door, the cold dawn air slaps through my face. As I came out with a puff of breath the old man hurriedly said.

'I've been called. Let's go to the conference room.'

What's the matter?’

Of course something's going on. But I asked him out of courtesy, and the old man shook his head as if he had something to say. Now it's not surprising to hear an emergency call. Like a bus that always comes, it feels familiar. Now I take it calmly, and it's become my daily routine that I'm always preparing for. I slowly turned my shoulders to warm up my stiffened body, and soon moved along with the old man.

Even though it was early in the morning when the sun had not risen yet, it was very chaotic outside the building. The guards rushed somewhere, hiding their tired faces, and the familiar faces of the executives walked in the same direction as us. They were stiffened with tension and anxiety, but I was so self-conscious that I couldn't even control a yawn mixed with tiredness. I drank and fell asleep, so I felt more sleepy.

I turned my head and yawned secretly. The tired yawn turned into breath and scattered, and my mind began to become clearer little by little. The old man who was looking at it laughed, 'Are you so sleepy?' and I shook my head, saying, 'I can't help it.' I'm ready to yawn to the end. We now opened the familiar conference room door and slowly entered.

'It's very cold, isn't it? I'm sorry about the early hours.'

The head of the group was wearing pajamas and a pretty cute blanket over him. I laughed out loud because it was a combination that didn't go well with him with a profound impression, but I tried hard to hold my head in and nodded. But the old man, who had no patience at all, laughed openly. The head of the group looked at us with a questioning look on his face whether he thought he was laughing because of him, and I managed to keep my expression as much as possible and stabbed the old man in the ribs.

This meeting had fewer people than I thought. On the chair were two first-time executives, and the silver-rimmed glasses stood beside the group leader as always. And across from the chair we were going to sit on, there was a woman whom we had never seen before, who was neatly dressed in a woman's suit that didn't match the current cold. I sat in a chair opposite her, guided by silver-rimmed glasses.

For some time the conference room was full of silence. I was quietly drinking coffee to see if I had any intention of bringing up the group leader yet, and silver-rimmed glasses also brought us our coffee and blankets and did not take any action. What's this atmosphere? I looked around, but I didn't think it was an emergency call. And that woman looking at me has been bothering me a lot.

'Hello?'

And about two minutes later? The woman who looked at me as if she were scanning me finally greeted me. Her eyes made me feel like I was being watched. You seem to have something to do with it, but you don't bring it up right now? I was greeted with a nod once. However, the meeting room was once again shrouded in silence because there was no word after the greeting. After another two minutes or so, the old man began to get annoyed if his patience had reached its limitless.

What is it? Are you looking at the line now? What are you doing with a busy man?'

We are not in a position to notice. Furthermore, he is called in at dawn and tired to death, but his opponent watches us as if he were looking at his liver and saves his words. I thought the old man's irritation was reasonable, so I stared at her without saying anything. But in her eyes a strange interest rather than an unpleasantness began to creep slowly. This thought passed through my mind and the old man.

'What do you said.

And the silence came to an end when the group leader laid the coffee cup down on the table. The head of the group smiled softly as if he knew we would, and soon spoke to the woman as if advising her.

Ji-young, I told you. Don't touch them, they're not easy."

Did you have any other intentions? The woman looks at me for a while and then closes her eyes soon. And it's like I didn't want this...he let out a sigh with a face of .... Unlike before, she murmured quietly, avoiding my eyes. It was like a street cat looking at a passerby.

'Yes, I'm sure they won't be able to pull a stunt. Excuse me.’

The old man relaxed his posture and put his hand on the desk. Then, tap the desk with your finger and gently frown between your eyes. To the sound, my head began to taut, and I tried to read her intentions of bringing up the word jab. But she told me without hesitation as if she had no intention of hiding any more.

Is there anything you want? Do you want to make a deal?’

Is there anything you want? The accident came to a halt at the sudden suggestion. But before I could even give an answer, the head of the group jumped up, and looked at her with an unseemly scary face. He answers in a voice of anger as if defending us.

'They're not moving at a price, Ji-young!'

'You're still being naive, aren' That's why you're always being punished.’

A woman snores as if not to say the same thing. After the snorting, her impression began to look different. Oh, were all the neat suits and faces that looked like beginners in society a mask? Even though it hasn't been a long time, I can get to know a woman named Jiyoung roughly. This woman was a true city dweller who tasted the essence of the end-of-life.

'You don't have to be hypocritical in front of me. That's what people do, right? Now, tell me. What can I get for you? Food? Women? Why don't you take this opportunity to make a profit?’

I burst out laughing without realizing it. I'm not saying she's bad in the world. Maybe it's this ruined world that changed her. But the laughter that came out of my mouth was a mockery of the world, and an unpleasantness that sent me to her, who treated me just like herself. The woman frowns on me whether she thinks I was treated like a fool when I burst into laughter.

'What do you want from us?'

I asked because I was really curious. How much food and people do they have to offer? And what does the woman with all that stuff want to come all the way here to negotiate? But she finally solved her frown as if she thought she could communicate. And he speaks to us with such a businesslike smile.

'There's a lot of rumors. I heard you guys are so good at fighting. There's a nigga in our shelf these days, just hold on to that. What do you think? It's good to have something good, and it's good to be safe. Do you have a girl's taste? Just tell me, I'll give you everything.’

She knows everything, what's wrong? he grinned with a look And he gave me a mask of pride, enchantment and aegyo, without hesitation. It's a real bummer to play drums and janggu alone. Whether she thinks the negotiations were successful just by asking for the price, the woman was confident, and soon reaches out to me and smiles shyly. Are you shy? No, what kind of smile is that behind me? I just stared at the hand and didn't shake hands.

It's been 30 seconds since she asked for a handshake. But her mask slowly began to break, looking at me who kept not holding her hand over and again. Surviving in this world, I have a lot of supplies and people. Maybe a smart, competent woman. But if things don't go their way, these people show the same reaction.

'What are you doing not holding?'

The conviction that everything will go his way. And when that conviction is broken, these great men become irritated and angry like children. I looked at her without saying anything. Then her hands begin to tremble slowly.

One more minute has passed. She was still holding her hand, either because of her pride or stubbornness, and her face flushed and flushed. I thought I had put in a moderate amount of time, so I recited quietly to her.

'We have everything you've suggested.’

The food was well received, and the people who always believed in me were still alive. My insides were already as strong as a full food warehouse, and there was no more hole for something else to step in. Greed and desire had long since disappeared far away, and I found her so funny, obsessed with such material things.

'There's no negotiation.’

The old man grunts beside me. Negotiation is like a deal in which you give and take what you want. But if you don't get equal value on one side, it's not going to negotiate. Are you angry because of the old man's attitude? She slowly lowered her hand, clenching her teeth to the point of sound. And they start staring at us like they're going to kill us.

You're not gonna cut the paper with that? She may be staring at her to vent her anger, hurt by her pride, but in my eyes, everything just seemed the same and clumsy. The guy I met at school and this woman in front of me were all the same. the clumps of craving in the greenhouse. The tool that you attach to go looks so dreary and terrible. I recited quietly to her.

'If you have nothing to give, ask me a favor.’

A small favor. It's not a negotiation, it's just a request. Do not hold a desk with a man's life, or discuss a deal with food that will go into his mouth. They're all useless to us, so we won't even expect a price. Only if she asked me to save someone, kill a variant, I was willing to take the gun. It was human life that was heavier than anything else.

But she seemed to have heavier self-esteem than the lives of the people in her shelter. His shoulders trembled as if his anger were rising, and his face warped like a demon. The expression smeared with shame and hatred looked very dark and dark, as if it was the first time being ignored. Eventually, she shook her fist on the desk.

'What...? Please? You son of a... That's why I can't do this to you've eaten with a knife. I only know how to fight, I don't know how to play nice......... where are you pretending to be nice?’

The mask came off, and the devilish figure of her came out. However, the face of me and the old man listening to the swearing in front of me was more calm than I thought. Because I knew she was this kind of person. But the head of the group and the people around her sat with an absurd look, as if they had no idea she would spit out such a look and abusive language. She seems to be good at image management, right?

But the confusion did not last long. The head of the group, who was frowning on one side, now stands up and yells out, saying, "There is no limit."

What are you doing? Guard!!! Get her out of here now!’

The negotiations and everything were ruined. But with nothing to be desired at all, I woke up from my seat without hesitation, and the old man yawns and stretches. The only people screaming here were the group leader and a woman named Ji-young, whose face was blazing hot.

Shit, you can't get out! Why do I have to go out!'

Her impression, which had only seemed elegant, had changed before I knew it. The neat suit has long been disheveled, and the innocent, nice-looking face breaks like a glass mask. I could hear the guards running, but she held her seat and shouted at us as if she would never go out. Apparently, the scenario of a failure in negotiations here seems to have not been planned.

'Stupid.'

He was not an old man to be let go by the swearing. The old man spat on the floor full of grubs and uttered a short curse at her. Now, it was time to go back to the quarters and get some late sleep. We got up from the chair and walked toward the door, and from the back came a scream of hysterics. The scream, a mixture of annoyance and disgrace, was surely getting closer to us.

Well, words don't win, so it's time for action. I'm sure she's coming at the old man who used abusive language. As always, I was bored with the same pattern, but I didn't forget to reach out to the bayonet stuck in my thigh. The muscles wriggle, and the optic nerve, visible only to the right, flashes and flashes. As time passed slowly, in it I threw the Great Sword.

Ting.

Parr.

Accurately placed next to the wall where she was running, the dagger rings and vibrates the afterglow into the atmosphere. Everything stops as if it's stopped, and she stops as she runs. a dagger thrown through the hour hand Only the old man and I opened the door and left among the hardened ones.

The old man and I had this conversation in the hallway.

Hey, you've gotten a lot better at throwing. Did you practice behind my back?'

It's a Cheongchul Euram.’

'Fuck it.